


What if We Never Were? (Revised)

by ladylangst



Series: What if we Never Were? [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Bully Flash Thompson, Gen, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt/Comfort, Peter Needs a Hug, Sad Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, dad tony stark, eventual tony basically adopts Peter fic, flash is human
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23473786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladylangst/pseuds/ladylangst
Summary: What would happen if Tony Stark never found Spider-Man? What if he found Flash Thompson instead? How will Peter deal with his hero working with his longtime bully? And how will Spider-Man move forward without Iron man’s help? If he can move forward at all that is...
Relationships: Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Avengers Team, Tony Stark & Flash Thompson
Series: What if we Never Were? [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688662
Comments: 55
Kudos: 335





	1. Classroom Introspection Scene

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! I'm back! And I'm re-working this entire fic! I plan to update a lot more, especially because we're all stuck at home! I hope you guys like this!

“Recently there has been talk of Stark industries finally naming an heir for the company. Most of it was assumed to be speculation, but last night Tony Stark held a press conference at his compound to announce his successor. The young man, who goes by the name Flash Thompson, is not biologically related to Mr. Stark, though he has been training with him ever since the accords were put into place. It is said that he will not only inherit Stark industries, but also the responsibility of being Iron man...”

Peter tunes out the voice of the buzzing anchorman in favor of staring out the classroom window. It’s raining outside, that’ll make going out in his ‘suit’ harder to accomplish. His eyes trail from the window to the television once more before he slips his headphones out of his hoodie and subtly puts them on. There isn’t anything new to listen to anyways. Flash has been bragging for months about how Tony Stark was practically adopting him. Peter doesn’t care about it anymore. Well, not as much as he did at first.

When Peter first found out that Flash was close to Tony Stark, he’d felt like the jock had punched him in the gut. Which, in Peter’s case, isn’t a hard feeling to imagine. It sucks that his childhood hero hand picked his tormentor to succeed him, but who else would he have picked? Flash is really smart, just as smart as Peter, and he had enough money to attend Mr. Stark’s expo, which is where he was discovered.

Peter likes to think about what would have happened if he had been the one at the expo instead of Flash. Mr. Stark might have noticed him. He’d smile and offer Peter an internship in his personal lab. Maybe if things got serious enough Peter would tell him about being Spider-Man. Then they’d work together to make new formulas for his webbing, and maybe a new prototype for his web shooters. Peter likes to dream about how it could have been... but it always makes him sad when he has to face reality.

Peter clenches his fists under the desk and bites his lip. Mr. Stark has always been a motivator for him. The guy had survived being tortured and returned home a better man. He had moved past his mistakes and used his experiences to turn his life around. He had learned to help people. Tony Stark’s story had helped Peter get through so much, and he loved the hero for that.

After his Uncle's death, Peter had been discouraged. He was depressed and didn’t care about anything, but hearing about Iron man and all that he had been through really helped him get himself back together. Mr. Stark inspired him to take the next step and become Spider-Man so that he could move past his own mistakes to help people too.

Peter wonders if he’ll have the same attitude when Flash replaces his hero?

He hopes so.

Peter jumps and flinches when the final bell blares loudly throughout the school. Enhanced hearing has some real disadvantages. He sighs and begins to gather his things. He’s purposefully slow while he stuffs everything in his beat up backpack. He doesn’t want to run into Flash today. When he looks up again, Peter is the last one there.

He decides to wait at least five more minutes, just to be safe.

When he finally leaves the classroom, the halls are relatively empty. Usually Ned would be walking with him, chattering away about his newest LEGO set, but he had to stay home sick today. Peter really hates the silence that surrounds him in his friend’s absence.

He makes a quick stop by his locker. It’s covered in sharpie drawings and hurtful words. He’s reported it to the office several times, but after the fifth repainting they told him to just deal with the vandalism. No one was ever punished.

After dumping his books, Peter jogs towards the back entrance of the school. He pushes open the heavy metal door with ease and heads down the block to an alley filled with broken glass, rusted dumpsters, and an old cat that he affectionately refers to as Mr. Crabby-Claws.

It’s where he changes into his super suit, or, well, his super sweat-suit. It’s not a nice suit by any means, but it keeps his face hidden and it helps tone down his enhanced vision and hearing. Peter made it himself and he’s really happy that it functions at all.

So what if it doesn’t do anything for protection or safety? Just as long as Aunt May isn’t aware of his activities, that’s okay in Peter’s opinion.

As soon as he enters the alley he tosses his bag to the ground and starts to change. When he’s done he stuffs his clothes back into his bag, and he webs it to the side of a dumpster. He’s ready to kick some criminal-butt!

* * *

In hindsight, going out in the rain was not Peter’s best idea. It’s difficult, dangerous, and way too embarrassing. Hopefully all of New York’s nosy reporters are safe at home tonight. Like he probably should be... but then who would stop the bad guys?

Peter slips against the bricks of the building that he was attempting to land on, scrambling to pull himself over the ledge. If his hands were bare he’d have less trouble sticking to the dripping walls, but his suit absorbs too much water and blocks his enhanced grip. He’s felt like the itsy bitsy spider all night.

After he manages to pull himself to safety, Peter looks back down to the street below. Only one of the four robbers that he just apprehended is webbed up, but at least one less bad guy is on the run.

He should have been able to handle them easily, but they had these super cool, glowing weapons. They were made with really advanced tech too, too advanced for some common street thugs. If Peter hadn’t been so busy fighting them, he probably would have tried to discuss the power source used for the anti-gravity gun. That thing was freaking awesome!

One of the weapons, a huge laser blaster, had almost taken out Mr. Delmar’s shop, but Peter had managed to stop it in time. It’s a good thing too. He really wouldn’t want all the bad press that would come his way if he accidentally destroyed the best sandwich place in Queens.

He sighs and shoots one more strand of webbing down on the criminal before pulling out his cellphone. He doesn’t even bother looking as he dials the number.

“This is the NYPD, what can we help you with?” a monotone voice says.

“I’d like to report a bank robbery on, uh,” Peter leans forward to read the street sign, “21st street.”

“Alright, are you currently in the bank?” 

“Nope, I saw it from across the street. But it looks like one of the guys is in a pretty sticky situation.” Technically Peter isn’t lying. He did see the start of the robbery from across the street. 

“Thank you for the call, we’ll send someone over right away. Could I get your name and number for a statement-” Peter doesn’t let the guy say anything else before he hangs up. He has to make it back home before Aunt May decides to call him in for dinner.

He shoots a web towards a building not too far away and tugs on it experimentally. He’s been trying to perfect a new water-resistant formula for his web fluid, but he’s not so sure if it’s safe enough to use yet. He’d rather look like a dork tugging on his webs than like an idiot splattered all over the streets of Queens.

Peter tugs on the web once more before deciding that it’s safe. He jumps from the building and uses his momentum to swing forward. Shooting another web once he begins to fall again. He lives for the feeling of the air whipping past his body as he slings across the city. He can’t even feel the cold with all of the adrenaline he has pumping in his blood. It’s probably the happiest moment of Peter’s day.

He lets out a whoop as he nears the alley where he left his stuff. He prepares for the moment when he’ll run out of webbing, and then he flips. His stomach drops and for a moment he’s weightless in the air. Then he’s falling towards the building. He feels his hands touch first and he allows his arms and legs to slacken to absorb the force of his landing before bracing them to hold himself in place.

He slides downwards a bit, but his grip keeps him safe in the end. He grins widely and slowly makes his way to the ground. He grabs his back from where it’s barely attached to the dumpster and pulls out his hoodie from earlier. He squeezes it on over his soaked suit, and stuffs his mask into his backpack.

Then he starts the quick jog home.

When Peter reaches his apartment complex, he climbs up the fire escape, and he slips through his open window. He hits the floor with a muted thump. His door is still closed and his shoulders slump with relief. Aunt May hasn’t tried to check on him yet.

Peter makes quick work of peeling off his sodden suit, and tosses it in a pile behind his desk to be washed later. His skin is riddled with scratches and bruises that make him look like a bruised banana. He’s not worried though. They’ll be all fixed up by morning.

He shivers slightly and searches his floor for some warm sweats. Peter’s always having trouble staying warm now. He read an article once that mentioned something about spiders being unable to thermoregulate, maybe he can’t either? That kinda sucks.

Peter scoffs and tugs a flannel out from underneath a pile of dirty t-shirts. It doesn’t look too wrinkled, so he figures it’s clean enough to sleep in. He tugs it on as he kicks around his room looking for some pants. Soon he’s decked out in his nice, toasty flannel, a pair of sweats, and some slipper socks that he definitely did not steal from May. Nope. Nuh-uh. Didn’t happen.

He shakes out his hair, flinging water all over his room, before pulling his door open. He makes his way to the kitchen, and smiles when he sees Aunt May shove a smoking pan under the faucet.

“Hey May, what’s burning over there?” He asks teasingly. His aunt is a notoriously bad cook. One time, she burnt popcorn so badly that the fire department showed up.

She jumps a bit and turns to smile at him. “Hey Pete, I’m glad you finally decided to come out of your room. All that studying can’t be good for you. And I’m not burning it, I just wanted to try soaked spaghetti tonight. You have to stop being so close-minded about food” she laughs as she finishes talking and turns back to her now soggy pan of charred noodles.

“Yeah right! I’m not the one who refused to eat that casserole at the parent teacher meeting the other night!” He shoots back.

“It was practically alive Pete! It was way worse than my cooking!” She dumps the pan into the trash before turning to look at him. “Now, how about I order us some pizza? I’d suggest we go out for Thai, but you’re already ready for bed, and that storm outside is ridiculous!”

“Sounds great May, I’ll put on a movie in the living room. Want to watch something sci-fi?”

“Fine fine, go put on Star Wars you nerd!” She waves her hand at him as she picks up the phone, but Peter knows she’s just messing with him. She loves those movies just as much as he does.

He heads to the living room and turns on the TV. It lights up slowly to reveal the news. Tony Stark and Flash Thompson are still trending. He ignores it in favor of pulling out one of the Star Wars DVD’s . Just as he pops it in, he hears;

“Tony Stark and Flash Thompson were spotted at a movie premier earlier tonight. What a great way for Stark to start showing off his super student. Will there be more outings like this in the future? Tune in for more at...”

Peter bites his lip hard. He doesn’t care about them. Really. Who needs a super cool father figure to go to the movies with? Peter has May, and that’s enough for him.


	2. Gym and Patrol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you like this new chapter! Let me know what you think!

Peter groans and collapses onto the smelly blue mat below him. Sit ups usually suck, but they’re even worse when you have to fake being bad at them. He hears Ned laugh next to him and glares up at the traitor through his bangs. 

“I don’t know what you’re laughing about. You have to do these next.” Peter grumbles as he pulls himself up off the ground. “Man, Coach’s class never works out the way I hope it will. Maybe he should start weighing some other options? You’d think the school could afford a better teacher.”

“Nah, Midtown is a science based school. All of our funding goes towards experiments and lab tech.” Ned says, offering Peter a hand. Peter smiles and lets his friend pull him up, just as Flash saunters up behind them.

“Wow, just when I thought you couldn’t get any more pathetic. Is gym class too much for you? Poor Puny Parker.” Flash taunts. Peter turns to glare at him, but the jock’s smirk just gets bigger. “Why don’t you just do yourself a favor and drop out Parker? Being here obviously isn’t doing you any favors.”

“Hey!” Ned exclaims, stepping in between Peter and Flash. “You’re one to talk. Peter has the highest GPA in the school. You’re just jealous that he’s smarter than you.” Gosh, Peter really needs to treat Ned to a burger or something. He’s always got his back.

“Yeah right, I’m the smartest person on this side of town. Haven’t you seen the news? I’m Tony Stark’s heir. He hand picked me over everyone else. What do you have going for you? A grade? Get on my level, or get out.” With that, Flash stalks back over to his group of fans.

Peter frowns and stares down at his dirty sneakers. Flash sort of has a point. Peter’s smart, and he has months of experience as Spider-Man, but Flash is already miles ahead of him, both as a student and a hero. How is he supposed to compete with someone who was just handed everything?

“Don’t listen to him Peter. Flash is nothing but a bully, and if Tony Stark can’t see that, then he’s not as smart as they say he is.” Ned says. Peter doesn’t agree, but he makes a humming sound to placate Ned. Then they go back to doing their sit ups. This time with Ned doing the work, and Peter spotting him.

Ned gets about thirty sit ups in before he falls back on the mat, breathing heavily. Peter leans back on his heels and looks around the room, tuning into random conversations while Ned gets his breath back. 

Flash is bragging about building a high tech watch, Abraham and Michelle are discussing an animal rights campaign, and Liz is talking about a party that she’s hosting tomorrow night. Now that’s interesting. Peter glances over to where she’s sitting with Betty and Cindy. Gosh, she even makes a gym uniform look pretty.

“-eter? Hey, Peter” Ned interrupts Peter’s staring by shoving his shoulder. “Dude, quit staring at Liz. Coach is giving you the stink eye. I don’t want him to give us extra sets again.”

“Sorry.” Peter says, turning back to Ned with a sheepish smile. “I just thought I heard Liz talking about a party or something.”

“Oh yeah! She’s having this huge party because her parents both have business out of town. Were you thinking of going?” 

“What? No! I couldn’t go to a party at Liz’s house. I don’t think she even knows that I exist. How would I get invited?” Peter feels like he just made a valid point, but Ned doesn’t look impressed.

“Dude, you’ve liked her for like, forever. You have to find a way to go to that party!” By the end of his statement, Ned is practically shouting. The room falls quiet around them for a couple of seconds, but Flash’s laughter breaks the silence. 

“You two Nerds want to go to Liz’s party? Like that’s ever going to happen. Who would even want you there? Ned would bring down the mood by himself, but imagine what would happen if Puny Parker came along. That’s not any party I’d want to go to.” Flash says with a predatory grin, staring straight at Peter.

Around the room, people start mumbling agreements. A couple their friends from the Decathlon team look uncomfortable, like Abraham and Liz, but no one speaks up in their defense.

Peter hides behind his hair and hopes that no one can see him turning bright red. When he’s about to die of embarrassment Coach stands up and claps his hand.

“Alright, that’s enough everyone. Get back to your workouts.” 

Peter has never been so happy to have Coach yelling at them about getting back to work. Everyone turns back to their partners to avoid getting called out by an irritated P.E. teacher.

Peter sighs and closes his eyes. He should have stayed home today. That totally makes the top ten list of humiliating things that have happened to him. Well, outside of the suit at least. 

When he opens his eyes again, he sees Ned looking at him with the most apologetic look he’s seen on his friend's face since the time when he accidentally sat on Peter’s lego model of Stark Tower. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry Peter! I didn’t mean to get so loud. You know how I am with secrets man. I-” Ned probably would have continued to ramble for at least another thirty minutes, but Peter cuts him off.

“It’s fine. Flash has done worse before. This will probably blow over by tomorrow.” Peter doesn’t really think it will, but Ned seems to accept his answer.

“Yeah, you’re right. But I guess we can forget about going to that party.”

‘Yeah.”

The rest of the period goes by without anything else interesting happening. Peter makes a show of struggling to do twenty push-ups. Ned kicks it up a notch and does forty. Flash stays on his side of the gym and boasts to his fan club. Good times.

After that, Peter’s classes drag by. When the final bell finally rings, Peter is vibrating with pent-up energy. He’s been waiting to go out as Spider-Man again all day. Maybe he’ll see some more of those glowy weapons? Or a Villain? Maybe even a Villain with a glowy weapon! The possibilities are endless.

He rushes out of the school as fast as possible, barely stopping to say bye to Ned. He runs into the alley with the look of a madman, and startles Mr. Crabby-Claws away from a stinky box of moldy pizza.

“Sorry bud, but you probably shouldn't be eating that anyways.” Peter says as he changes into his suit, shooting the cat an apologetic look. 

A few seconds later, Peter swings himself up and perches on the edge of the building next to the alley. He watches as people walk by, waving at the few who notice him. He’s not exactly a real hero yet, so he goes fairly unnoticed. That’s alright though, he’s grateful for the people who do wave.

About an hour passes with Peter swinging up and down the block, and all he’s done is stop a purse snatching. So he decides to move to a new part of the city. The lady whose purse he saved is very grateful, and before he can leave she shoves a churro into his hand. He laughs and thanks her enthusiastically.

He eats the sugary treat while he watches the next block. It’s literally the best churro that he’s ever had. And that’s not just because it’s the first gift he’s been given from someone he’s helped. Well, it is. But it also tastes really good.

Peter finishes his snack and looks down at the street again. Dozens of people are passing below him. He doesn’t see anything off happening at first, but then he spots a man down by the crosswalk. He isn’t paying attention to what’s going on around him. Peter frowns and leans forward a bit.

The man swipes angrily at his phone and misses the blinking of the stoplight. He goes to take a step forward and Peter lurches forward off the building. He makes it to the man just in time to yank him back onto the sidewalk. A taxi speeds past where the man would have been and Peter sighs in relief. That was a close one!

“Woah! You’ve got to watch where you’re walking. You were almost splattered like a spider!”

The man doesn’t seem to like his quip. He rounds on Peter and shoves him away. It’s not enough to actually move him, but he pretends to fall backwards anyways. This guy could probably use an ego boost. 

“What do you think you’re doing? Keep your hands off me freak! Go play hero somewhere else. Some of us have actual jobs and we don’t need a menace like you making us miss the crosswalk. I’ll be late now!” The man spits out at him.

Peter holds up his hands in surrender and turns to leave, but one of the other pedestrians waiting to cross the intersection grabs his arm and smiles at him.

“I don’t think he’s having a very good day, so ignore him. He wouldn’t have even made it to work if you hadn’t helped out. Keep up the good work!” The man says. Peter nods his thanks to the nice bystander and swings back up to his perch.

‘Man, that was nice of that guy. He looked kind of familiar,’ Peter thinks as he settles back down to keep watch. It’s probably nothing, though.

The next couple of hours pass slowly, and soon it’s time for him to go home. Peter’s kind of disappointed. He helped out several people today, but he didn’t do anything really heroic. How is he supposed to take  
down bad guys if he can’t find them? He thought that becoming Spider-man would help him make a difference, but he doesn't feel like he’s doing much at all.

He’s several blocks away from his alley, and it takes him a while to get back. Despite his lack of heroics, today wasn’t a total bust. The weather was really nice, that cool guy gave him a compliment, and Peter got a “thank you” churro! 

After he grabs his stuff from the alley, Peter makes it home quickly. He slides in through his window and shrugs out of his suit. It’s all sweaty and gross, so he chucks it in the washing machine again and throws on some sweats and a t-shirt.

It’s already 8:06, but Aunt May won’t be back for at least another hour. Peter decides that he’s not hungry enough for dinner, so he settles down on the couch and turns on the tv. There’s nothing good on, so he switches it to the news. Not even twenty minutes and later he’s fast asleep on the couch.


	3. Vulture Comes in like a Wrecking Ball

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments!

Peter huffs and glares down at the notebook lying open on his desk. All of his notes about the criminals and the super-weapons from the other night are right in front of him, but he still can’t make sense of any of the situation. 

The guys who robbed the bank didn’t look like the type of criminals who would have high tech laser guns, and Peter isn’t surprised that they were having trouble working the weapons. Come on, they were wearing plastic Avengers masks and black sweats during a break-in. They probably can’t even use a can opener without injuring themselves. 

And where would they get the weapons in the first place? If they needed to rob an ATM, there’s no way they had enough to cash to buy those things. Just the power source off of one of the guns would probably cost a fortune.

The only way that Peter’s going to figure this out is by running into those guys again. Maybe he could-

“Peter!” Ned shouts in his ear, causing Peter to jolt up in his seat.

“Ned! What the heck? What was that for?” He asks, holding his head in his hands. Having enhanced senses can be such a pain.

“The bell rang like, five minutes ago. You’ve just been zoning out with your chem notes.” Ned gives him a weird look and reaches out to feel his forehead. “Do you have a fever or something?”

“What? No. I’ve just been stuck on an equation for a while. Sorry for blanking out on you.” Peter says, grabbing his stuff and heading out into the hall with his friend.

“You’re good, and since you’re not sick, would you want to come over to my house tonight? I know you were upset about Liz’s party, and I just got this awesome Lego Star Wars set. We could watch the movies while we put it together.”

“Um...” Peter really wants to say yes, he hasn’t hung out with Ned in forever, but he needs to go out as Spider-Man tonight. “Sorry, I have to clean my room tonight before Aunt May gets home. Maybe some other time?”

“Aw, that sucks man. I’ll see you on Monday then!” Ned says as he starts walking down the hall.

“Yeah, see you then.” Peter lets out a deep breath. He’s lucky that Ned bought that excuse. He’s used it at least four times in the last month. Maybe he thinks that May is on a cleaning kick? Either way it buys him time to go out Spider-Manning. 

* * *

Peter whoops as he does a flip mid-air, landing on the edge of a tall building with glass paneling. He’s been helping people non-stop since he left school this afternoon. There must be some kind of deal going on today. If you steal one purse, you’ll get another for just half the effort! He stopped five purse snatchers, gave directions to three people, and he even stopped a gas station robbery!

Despite all of the activity, he hasn’t seen anyone using more of that cool tech. Peter can’t stop smiling anyways. Today was pretty good. It is getting dark out, though. He’s just about to get up and head home for the night, when he sees a flash of blue light across town. The blast is so big that all of the surrounding buildings light up for a moment. 

Before he can even think about it, Peter slings his way towards where he saw the explosion. That has to have been one of the super-weapons. What else could do that? 

He slows down once he gets close to where he saw the burst of light. It’s completely dark now, and the only sources of light are some street lamps. There isn’t anything obviously shady happening at first glance. Peter can see some old warehouses and a parking garage, but they’re all dark inside. Maybe he’s in the wrong place? He shoots a web a couple buildings down and scans the area as he swings. 

Tree, dumpster, more abandoned buildings, a dog that needs a hug- There! Just between two buildings there’s another flash of light. Peter lands on the wall of the shorter building and crawls silently to peer around the corner. 

A few yards away, under a crumbling bridge, There are three men. Two of the guys are pulling crates out of a truck and showing them to the third guy. Peter thinks that these guys are going to way too much trouble for someone who seems totally unimpressed with their suspicious crates. 

He eases further around the corner and starts slipping down the side of the building. If he can just get close enough to see what’s in the crates, he’ll have a better chance of taking these guys down. He’s about halfway to the opposite end of his building, when the largest thug reaches into one of the boxes, pulls out a gun, and shoots a blast of blue into the sky. 

Whoa! These guys are the ones selling the super weapons? Peter actually found them, and there’s a whole truckload of those things! That's so cool, but it’s also super dangerous. So he waits until criminal number one sets down his weapon, and then he lowers himself to the ground. 

Just as Peter’s feet touch the gravel, his phone falls out of his pocket. 

“Sorry, I missed that. What can I help you with?” Siri’s voice echoes around the clearing. Peter cringes and slaps a hand to his forehead. 

The men all jolt. The two thugs with the truck whip up their guns and point them at the third guy, who now has his hands up in the air. 

“Did you set us up?!” The largest thug isn’t trying to impress anyone anymore. He’s pointing his gun point blank at criminal number three.

Peter shoots forward and lands in between the men. He raises his hands and waves them around. 

“Hey hey! Come on, if you’re going to shoot at somebody, shoot at me!” It’s not his smartest move as Spider-Man, but it’s one he’ll stand by.

The man hesitates for a second, then shrugs and points his gun at Peter. “Okay.”

Is this what it feels like to go into cardiac arrest? Probably not, but if things keep going like they are, Peter won’t have the chance to find out. With the gun now directed at him, he shoots out a web and tugs as hard as he can. He almost has it when the other dealer fires a blast at Peter. 

He flies backwards and slams into the ground. For a second, Peter’s reminded of the time he fell off the monkey bars as a kid. His breath had been sucked from his lungs, and it has taken Aunt May twenty minutes to get him to calm down. This feeling is infinitely worse than that. 

When Peter manages to sit up, all of the men are starting to drive off. He shakily raises his arm, and aims for the back of the large white truck.. He’s yanked forward violently as the truck speeds out of the back lot. Peter’s head spins and he gasps. He hits the side of a building as the truck rounds a corner, and then they’re out on the street.

Without the threat of being smashed on a wall, Peter’s able to catch his breath. Just in time for the second guy to start firing off blasts at him from the back of the truck. He twists and turns as he’s dragged behind the truck, just barely avoiding getting shot. He faintly hears the other guy calling someone for backup from the front of the truck. Great.

They drive like this for another block when one of the blasts manages to knock him loose. He rolls on the pavement like a loose tire. Peter tries to stand again, but something pierces his shoulders and drags him up into the air. His body feels like it’s on fire, and he bites down on his tongue to keep from screaming. 

He jerks his body violently, trying to break free, but soon he’s so high up that he’s not sure if falling would be the best option. He struggles to look up at his captor, and when he finally manages to twist into a position where he can see who it is, he regrets trying in the first place.

A giant, metal man with the face of a vulture is flying above Peter, clutching him tightly with razor-edged talons. His wings are crackling with the same blue light from the super weapons. Peter just manages to build up enough courage to meet the man’s eyes, and they stare at each other for a second. Hard grey eyes bore into Peter’s wide brown ones. Then the Vulture drops him. 

His stomach jumps into his chest. His blood pounds his ears. Peter’s breath is ripped from him a second time, and his vision goes black. He doesn’t know how to turn around. What is he supposed to do? He doesn’t know how to stop falling. His back is to the ground, so he can’t even see how close he is to becoming a pancake! He can’t feel his body. His eyes close tight. Hopefully May won’t miss him too mu-

SLAM

This must be what it feels like to die. Peter’s body lights on fire, but he’s freezing at the same time. His bones fill with lead. He can’t tell if he’s moving or not. The world is closing in around him. His eyes are open but he can’t see. Everything is cold. Maybe he could just go to sleep...

Something grips his arms tightly, and then he’s breaking the surface of the water. The world blares back to life around him, and he’s gasping air into his battered lungs. Peter heaves and coughs, choking up salty water. He shakes violently in the arms of his rescuer. All of his senses are running into overdrive.

Once he manages to calm down a bit, Peter yanks his goggles off of his suit. Saltwater burns his eyes as it drips from his mask, but he can see. He’s flying through the air again, and that alone is enough to send him back into a panic, but this time he’s being held gently. He cautiously looks up into the face of Iron Man. 

One more time for dramatic effect, Iron Man is carrying him. Iron Man just saved his life. He jerks his head back down and looks over his trashed suit and mangled limbs. Oh no. Iron Man just witnessed one of the most humiliating beat downs in Peter’s life.

Well, this is it. This is what years of torment and ridicule have been leading up to. Peter doesn’t think it’s physically possible to get more embarrassed than he is right now.

“Wow Tony, looks like Spider-Boy doesn’t know how to swim.”

He officially stands corrected. The universe really didn’t have to do that. Peter would have been fine thinking he was right. Really.

Why? Why does Flash need to be here? It’s bad enough that his hero is here to see him fail, but Flash too? He looks over Mr. Stark’s shoulder to see a second super-suit, slightly smaller than Iron Man’s, flying behind them. This is just great.

They fly a little ways more before landing in a quiet park not too far from where he was dropped by the bird man. Iron Man lays him down on a bench and then turns towards Flash.

“Why don’t you head back to the lab, kid, I’m going to have a talk with the catch of the day here.”

“Sure, Tony.” Flash says, his suit flashing gold as he gives Iron Man a nod. “See you later Spider-Dork” He shoots at Peter as he flies past.

Once he’s flown out of sight, The Iron Man suit peels open, and Mr. Stark steps out. He strides over to where Peter is propped on the bench, and he starts poking and pulling at all of Peter’s wounds. He sits as still as possible, flinching only when Mr. Stark finds something serious. 

After a few moments, the man steps back and pulls out a small canister. “Alright PJ’s. You have some nasty cuts on your shoulders, and more bruises than I care to count, but it looks like your healing factor is already kicking in. This,” He says, holding up the canister, “is a serum that will speed up the process. You’re lucky that I keep extra on me for the Capsicle and Big Green”

Peter stares at Mr. Stark in shock, shaking himself out of it when the man clears his throat. “Ah, Thank you so much Mr. Stark.” He spits out, taking the container. “I’m sorry you had to rescue me. If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you…” Peter trails off slowly.

Iron Man is back in his suit again. He crosses his arms over his chest and manages to pull off an annoyed expression, even though his face is hidden behind the helmet.

Peter sinks low on the bench and bites his lip. This really isn’t how he hoped tonight would go. He just wanted to help people and now he’s made a fool of himself in front of his hero. This is the first time that he’s met him too! Peter really messed up this time.

Mr. Stark glowers for another minute before speaking. “Okay, Spider-Boy? Was it? What the f**k do you think you were doing? Because I’m having trouble working it out. The way I see it, you crashed my protege’s weapons bust, and you managed to lose all of the suspects.”

Peter shrinks back further at Mr. Stark’s tone. “I’m sorry Mr. Stark, sir! I saw one of the explosions caused by the weapons earlier. I wanted to help out. I thought I could handle it.”

Iron Man’s face plate flips up, and his eyes are angry. “You could have been killed tonight. Look at yourself. You don’t have any real equipment, any real experience, or any reason to be here.” His voice cuts through the silent park like a knife. Peter hangs his head in shame. “When you go out and play hero, you put not only yourself in danger, but others as well. Why don’t you stick to helping out the little guy, and leave the big stuff to the people who actually know what they’re doing, alright?”

Peter nods so fast that he feels like a bobble head. Mr. Stark stares at him for another moment, before flipping his face plate closed and turning in the direction that Flash flew in. 

Mr. Stark doesn’t turn around again, but he sighs heavily. “Stay safe Spider-Man.” He says quietly. Then he flies off into the night.

Peter doesn’t move for a while though. He doesn’t want May to know that he’s been crying.

* * *

The first thing Peter hears when he walks into decathlon practice the next day, is Flash’s voice.

“Yo Penis Parker! How was the party last night? Oh yeah! I totally forgot. You weren’t invited. Don’t feel  _ too _ bad Penis, I didn’t go either. I was too busy trying out my new super suit! Tony made it for me, he’s practically family now. I’d say ‘you know how it is’, but you don’t know all that much about family, do you Puny?” His tone is taunting, and he finishes his jibe with a satisfied sneer thrown towards Peter.

Peter doesn’t do anything in reaction to Flash’s taunts. He just quietly makes his way to his desk on stage. Liz glances up at him from her podium while she shuffles note cards and smiles politely. He smiles back, but he knows it probably looks as forced as it feels. Flash glares at him from his chair by the door.

Liz finishes shuffling her note cards and daintily clears her throat. “Okay everyone. Now that we’re all here, why don’t we start practice? The academic decathlon is coming up fast and I want to do a run-through to show you guys what it’s going to be like. Is that alright?”

She waits for everyone to give some form of confirmation before continuing, “You all have bells at your seats. I’m going to run through a series of practice questions taken from last year's set. Be sure to speak clearly and confidently. Let’s begin.” she looks down at the first card and reads out; “What is the heaviest naturally occurring element?”

Peter taps his bell as she finishes the question. “Geranium?”

Liz smiles. “Correct! Good job Peter! The next question is...”

She continues to ask questions, one after the other, and Peter ends up answering most of them. He knows that it’s kind of awful, but he doesn’t find them challenging. He knows almost every answer, but he tries to leave a few of the harder ones for his teammates so that they can practice too.

Peter’s happy to be a part of this team and he’ll do everything in his power to help them win. He owes it to them for putting up with his wacky superhero schedule without any explanation. Though, maybe he shouldn’t call it that anymore. He isn’t really a hero. Mr. Stark is a hero, and soon, Flash will be too. Peter doesn’t think that the people of New York would even notice if Spider-Man went missing.

It doesn’t matter. He’ll keep helping them, even if he’s not a real hero like Iron Man. It’s what his uncle would want him to do.

He jumps slightly when everyone stands around him and begins to pack up their things. Uh oh. He totally spaced out the end of practice again. He glances at Liz to see if she noticed, but she just continues packing up too. Peter lets out a breath of relief and grabs his bag.

He’s halfway out the door when something slams into him from behind. He loosens his body and lets himself get knocked to the floor.

He hates this part of the day.

Flash steps over him and pokes at him with his expensive sneakers. His grin is manic looking in the dimly-lit hall, and Peter wonders if anyone has told him that he’d make a good Disney Villain. Maybe Flash would be flattered and give up his dream of becoming a hero to become an actor!

Peter changes his mind when he feels the sole of the expensive shoe in question crushing his ankle. He lets out a hiss of pain and tries to look like he’s in agony. It’s not hard. That ankle was smashed against a brick wall last night. Flash flashes him nasty grin and pulls back.

“What’s wrong Puny Parker? You’re being awfully quiet today. Are you sad that I brought up your pathetic excuse for a family? Don’t worry, maybe Mr. Stark could help you too! A charity case is always good for publicity. I could even put in a good word for you, I practically have him wrapped around my finger... Or maybe I won’t. I wouldn’t want to inflict you on any more innocent people. It’s a wonder that your Aunt hasn’t gone off and-“

“Leave my Aunt out of it, Flash. What’s your problem!?” Peter regrets the words as soon as they leave his mouth.

Flash steps forwards with a predatory glint in his eyes. “My problem, Penis, is you and your pathetic need to be the perfect little teacher’s pet. So why,” He rams his foot into Peter’s stomach, “don’t you,” He can’t fight back, it wouldn’t be fair. “Just do the world a favor,” another kick, “and leave for good.”

Flash kicks him once more before backing away. He stares at Peter for another minute, just like Iron Man did last night, before turning and walking away.“This was fun Parker. I’ll See you later.”

Peter watches as Flash saunters down the hall in his stupid, expensive Vans, and he wishes for one moment that he didn’t have to hold back to avoid hurting anyone. He feels guilty right after thinking it, though. It wouldn’t be worth it. He’s got to get home to help May before she destroys dinner again anyways.

He stands slowly and lifts his shirt to see the dark bruises that litter his abdomen. They don’t look too bad, in comparison to how he looked a couple of hours ago. They’ll be gone by Friday. Peter just has to keep them from his Aunt. If she saw them she’d freak out. He’d be in the hospital faster than he could say ‘An apple a day’.

He lifts his bag from where it’s laying on the floor and begins the long trek to his apartment.

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Peter can feel it.


	4. Decathlon Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter took so long! I found out that someone had copied some of my work, and I had to change up my plot a bit. I hope you guys like this chapter! Another one should be up soon!

Peter groans as he shoves a red sweatshirt into his duffle, trying desperately to squeeze it in next to his Spider-Man suit. He doesn’t even want to acknowledge the various pieces of clothing and homework that are strewn across his bed. He runs a hand through his hair and scans the rest of his room, mentally running through what he still has to pack. 

He has clothes, shoes, money, his toothbrush, extra webbing, road snacks, and his textbooks. Is that everything? Peter frowns and starts going through his list again. What if he makes it all the way to the hotel and realizes that he forgot something important? He really should have packed last night, but he needed to go out as Spider-Man, and then when he got home May offered to take him out for a goodbye dinner. Peter couldn’t say no to that. 

Peter sighs and grabs his bag. He knows that he has all of the essentials, and it’s time to go. Because of the mess, his room is hard to navigate. His Spidey-Sense saves him from stepping on a Lego at least three times. It’s a miracle that he makes it to the hall in one piece.

Aunt May is sitting at the kitchen table when he comes out, and Peter gives her a small smile. 

“Morning May, I have to head to the school soon. I think our bus leaves in fifteen minutes, and I doubt they’ll wait for me.” Peter explains as he goes to rifle through the cabinets. “Is there anything that I can bring for breakfast?”

May gets up from the table and picks up a sandwich container filled with eggs and bacon. 

“Here you go Pete. I know that eggs aren’t your favorite, but they should keep you full for the drive. Did you get everything packed?” She asks, handing him the dish. Peter knows that the snack is nowhere near enough to keep him full, but he grins widely anyways. His aunt is so caring. It’s not her fault that his metabolism is messed up.

“Thanks May. I’m sure I’ll love it.” Peter slips the container into a side pouch of his bag. “I have everything, at least, I think I do. I have clothes, money, and all of my bathroom stuff. Is there anything else?”

“Hm, do you have pajamas?” Peter nods. “Alright, what about your phone charger?” Peter nods again. “Then it sounds like you’re good to go. If you think of something important that you forgot, call me. I don’t care how far you are Peter. I’ll make sure you get it.” She opens up her arms for a hug and Peter practically tackles her.

“Thank you May. I’m going to miss you.” He whispers, squeezing her tightly. Peter’s never liked being away from May, but she’ll always come if he needs her.

“I’ll miss you too Peter.” She whispers back, holding him just as tight. “I larb you.”

“I larb you too.” Peter replies. He stands there hugging her for another minute, but after that he has to let go. If he doesn’t hurry, the bus will leave without him. Again. Flash would never let him hear the end of it. 

Peter checks his bag one last time, and then he heads out the door. He runs down the stairs and right out the door. He almost nails the mailman with the door, but the guy just smiles and laughs off his apologies. Peter makes a mental note to get the man a cookie or something when he gets back.

Once he’s outside Peter slows his pace and blows a stray piece of hair out of his eyes. There aren’t too many people out this early on a Saturday, so he has the sidewalk to himself. He tilts his face up a bit and smiles contentedly at the feeling of the sun on his skin. 

He barely takes notice of his surroundings as he jogs, only stopping to wave at Mr. Delmar when he passes the sandwich shop. Peter manages to make it to school in a record time of seven minutes. He makes sure to slow his pace to a walk before approaching the bright orange bus parked in front of the school.

All of his classmates are waiting on a patch of grass next to the courtyard. Ned is sitting by himself, apart from the group. When the group notices Peter, they start standing and gathering their bags. Liz makes sure to shoot him a bright smile as she gathers her things. Ned’s face lights up when he sees Peter, and he jumps up to meet him. 

“Hey man, it took you forever to get here. Are you excited to get there? I’m so pumped. Liz has been quizzing us randomly since I got here. I’m like, 99% sure that she got here first just to make sure no one wasted any study time.” Ned rushes out, sounding appalled at Liz’s study habits. Peter laughs and shakes his head.

“That sounds like something Liz would do.” Peter says, letting Ned pull him along as they start to load the bus. “Sorry I was late. I stayed up last night with aunt May, and I had to finish packing this morning. She wanted to have a nice dinner before I left for a couple days.” Ned nods in understanding and starts up the stairs of the bus. 

“It’s cool that your aunt does stuff like that. My mom made me go to sleep at 9 last night, and then she got me up at six. I’ve been waiting here for about an hour. Mr. Harrison gave me the weirdest look when I showed up.” 

“That’s rough.” Peter replies. He shoves his way past the bus driver and follows Ned onto one of the front benches. Most of the class has already settled in the back of the bus. Only Liz and Mr. Harrison are still at the front. That’s alright. Peter doesn’t like sitting by large groups of people for long periods of time. It gives him a headache. 

As soon as everyone is settled in their seats, Mr. Harrison stands and pulls out a crumpled sheet of paper. He reads over the trip itinerary for the hundredth time, and then he starts taking attendance. Peter zones out for most of the speech. He only starts paying attention when Liz stands up to speak as well. 

“Hi guys! I know you’re all really excited for this trip, but we still have a lot of work to do before we get there.” Liz says, opening up a folder. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and holds up a stack of notecards. “For the first half of the bus ride we’re going to go over possible multiple choice questions and review speech and essay formats. We’ll do this in the form of a practice performance event. After that you guys can do whatever you want. Does that sound alright?” 

When everyone gives some sign of agreement, she starts reading off questions. The cards cover a range of topics from language arts, mathematics, and science. For the first set of questions, everyone is raising their hands to answer. Once Liz hits the second set, there are fewer volunteers. By set four, only Michelle, Flash, Ned, and Peter are answering. 

“Alright guys! This is the last question for now.” Liz says, holding up the last notecard. “Do flames contain plasma?” Peter’s hand shoots into the air, but so does Flash’s. Liz smiles and gestures towards Flash. 

“Yes.” Flash says, puffing up his chest. “Flames do have plasma.” Peter frowns at his answer. It’s not exactly wrong, but there’s a more complicated explanation. 

“That’s correct, but there’s more to the answer. During the actual competition, make sure to answer with all of the relevant information. Peter, would you like to try to expand on Flash’s answer please?” Liz asks.

“Y-yeah, um sure.” Peter stutters. He didn't expect Liz to call on him directly. Though, he doesn’t mind. “ Some flames do have a type of plasma, but they have to reach a high enough temperature. Flames below a certain temperature won’t create enough ions to act like plasma.”

“Good Job, Peter! That’s all I have for right now. You guys can do what you want until we get to the hotel in about an hour.” Liz says. Peter sighs and slips down in his seat. He sits back up a second later when his Spidey-Sense goes off. He looks around the bus, trying to find the source of danger. 

It turns out to be nothing. Well, not nothing. Flash is glaring at Peter with fiery eyes and a scowl so vicious that it looks like a snarl. He’ll definitely try and pay Peter back for stealing his thunder, but he can’t do anything on the bus. Mr. Harrison won’t let Flash outright bully Peter, even if he is a celebrity. So Peter settles back into his seat. 

Ned is already conked out next to him. Peter yawns and stretches a bit. He could use a nap too. He shoves his stuff under the bus seat and wraps his hoodie around himself like a burrito. He leans on Ned and lets his eyes slip closed. Most of his classmates have quieted down, and the bus is making a quiet thrumming hum. In no time, he’s asleep. This is totally the best use of his free hour. 

* * *

He’s shaken awake by Ned, when they pull up to the hotel. Peter blinks sleepily and stretches, sitting up in his seat with mussed hair and weird lines on his face from Ned’s jacket. Ned teases him about it until Peter points out that his friend has matching lines from the window he was leaning on. 

They stand up on tingling legs, cramped from the long drive, and start to gather their bags. Peter slings his duffle over his shoulder and pulls up his hood, hoping it will hide his messy hair. Most of the other students have also started trying to get themselves together. Betty is in the middle of tying her hair into a ponytail, and Flash is frantically trying to comb his hair back into place. Peter smiles slightly and makes his way off the bus, Ned follows close behind him. 

Mr. Harrison is waiting outside with his overstuffed backpack and rumpled paperwork. As everyone unloads the bus, he checks their names off of the list. Peter’s not sure why they have to do this again, especially because they didn’t get off of the bus on the way here, but Mr. Harrison can be weird sometimes. Once everyone has their stuff, the class enters the hotel. 

The second he steps into the lobby, the last of Peter’s sleepiness slips away. His classmates all start talking rapidly, and he can’t blame them. The hotel lobby is gigantic. The main desk is directly in front of the doors, but the rest of the space opens up into a large entrance hall. Dozens of teal cushioned chairs and silver tables fill the center of the room. The area is lined by the balconies of each floor, and when he looks up, Peter can see that the ceiling is a large glass dome positioned several floors up. There are fountains and floral arrangements all over the places, and several official looking people. This has got to be the fanciest building that Peter’s ever been in.

Mr. Harrison lets them explore the room while he checks in, so Peter and Ned head over to a set of vending machines to get some snacks. After about fifteen minutes of snacking and taking cool pictures of the fountains, a frazzled looking Mr. Harrison approaches Peter and Ned with a small yellow envelope. 

“Okay guys,” He says, handing over the package. “Here are your room keys, a map of the hotel and surrounding buildings, and a schedule. We’re all going to be on the third floor. My room number and phone number are on the envelope. For tonight, we’re going to order food from the hotel. They’ll give everyone a student discount. You’re free to do whatever you want as long as you stay in the hotel. I’ll be stopping by everyone’s room at nine to check in. We’ll meet here tomorrow morning at eight. Alright?” He’s out of breath by the end of his speech. Peter and Ned stare at him with wide eyes and nod. Once he’s sure they don’t have any more questions, Mr. Harrison whirls off to ambush another pair of students.

Peter shrugs and stands up, swinging his duffle over his shoulder again. Ned gets up too, and they head over to the elevator. It looks like most everyone is still waiting for hurricane Harrison to hit them, but Michelle and Flash are standing over by the elevators too. Michelle has her headphones in, but she looks up with a small nod when Peter and Ned walk over. 

Flash doesn’t greet them, but he doesn’t make any rude comments either. He’s leaning up against the wall with his hood up and arms crossed. His clothes are slightly rumpled from the drive, and he has dark circles under his eyes. He looks like he needs a nap just as much as Peter does. It’s weird. Peter’s never seen Flash when he’s not hyped up on expensive coffee and spite.

The elevator opens after a minute, and they all pile on. Half of the compartment has glass walls, so they can watch the lobby grow smaller and smaller as they go up. When they reach the third floor, Michelle goes right, and Peter, Ned, and Flash go left. 

They walk to their rooms in silence. Peter feels tense the whole time, but Flash looks completely zoned out. It turns out that Flash’s room is a door down from Peter and Ned’s. He goes in and shuts the door quickly. Peter doesn’t mind. He and Ned open the door to their own room, and dump their bags by the door.

The room is pretty nice. It’s decked out with a leather sofa, a mini-bar, and the craziest bathroom that Peter has ever seen. The bathtub has jets, and the shower has like, five different water stream settings. His shower at home barely has one working setting. 

“Hey Ned!” Peter calls, poking his head out of the bathroom to find Ned switching channels on the TV. “You have got to check out this bathroom. The tub has water jets and everything.”

“Whoa, really? My dad wanted to get some for our house once, but my mom said they were too risky to install.” Ned says, coming over to join Peter. He kneels on the floor and starts messing with the controls. After a few seconds the jets buzz to life. “Do you have any idea what we could do with these?”

“We could test the jet’s propulsion effect on paper boats?” Peter says, a wide grin splitting his face.

“Dude! That’s exactly what I was thinking!” They both jump up and go to their bags by the door. Ned pulls out his laptop and starts googling different paper boat models, and Peter gathers together several sheets of paper, a ruler, and some bath salts that Ned’s mom made him bring. 

They’re well on their way to creating a paper replica of the Titanic, when someone knocks on their door. Peter and Ned both jolt, dropping the materials that they were working with. They look at each other for a second before Ned pulls out his phone to check the time.

“It’s almost nine, so it’s probably Mr. Harrison.” Ned says, setting his phone back down. “Do you want to check in with him, and I’ll finish setting up our experiment?”

“Yeah, sure.” Peter stands up and goes over to the door, stepping over a graveyard of failed paper ships. One of them gets caught on his foot, and he attempts to shake it off as he opens the door. “Hey Mr. Harrison, how’s it-” Peter cuts off mid-sentence, and he thinks he can feel his face going bright red. 

“Hey Peter!” Liz says, smiling brightly. She laughs lightly at his shocked expression and tucks her hair behind her ear. “I know you’re probably busy, but I wanted to let you and Ned know that we’re all going to sneak into the pool room after Mr. Harrison stops by. I read that participating in a rebellious activity helps raise team morale.”

“Yeah, uh, great! That sounds great. We’ll totally come” Peter manages to say, ducking his head, and kicking the crumpled paper boat behind him before Liz can see it. “Should we bring anything, like, study sheets or notebooks?”

“Nope. I think you guys all worked hard enough on the drive up today. This is just for fun. I’ve got to get going before Mr. Harrison stops by. We’re going to meet by the elevator in twenty minutes. See you then!” She says. She gives him another smile, and a small wave, before heading down the hall to the next door. Peter can only stare after her in shock.

After a minute he shakes his head and turns back to Ned. “I think our project is going to have to wait.”


	5. Sneaky Pool Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry that this took so long! I'm hoping to write the next chapter faster! I hope you like it!

Peter groans as he rifles through his bag, growing more exasperated by the second. He has his Spider-Man suit, his swim trunks, and his sleep clothes, but he doesn’t have an extra shirt. He tosses his bag to the side and grasps his hair with his hands. This is a complete disaster! He always brings an extra shirt on trips. How could he forget- 

“Uh, Peter?” Ned says, standing in front of the bathroom with his swimming trunks on. He’s looking at Peter with a slightly concerned smile. “Are you alright dude?” 

Peter lowers his hands and forces out an awkward laugh, not quite meeting Ned’s eyes. “Yeah, sorry, I'm fine. I just forgot to pack an extra shirt to use for swimming.” 

Peter jumps and looks up when Ned starts laughing loudly. “Is that it?” He asks through amused gasps. “You look like someone died or something. Why don’t you just go without one?”

Peter flounders for a moment, opening and closing his mouth. “I-uh, I don’t want Flash to make fun of me.” He spits out, turning bright red. “Besides, May always makes me wear one.” That makes sense right? There’s no way that Peter can explain that he needs a shirt to his secret identity.

Ned makes a noticeable effort to stop laughing, breathing deeply between chuckles. “You’re like, pretty normal dude. I know Flash has gotten all muscly and stuff because of his training with Iron Man, but I don’t think he’ll say anything, and if he does, it’ll probably be to me. Also, May hasn’t enforced the shirt rule for two years. You just kept wearing one.”

Well, shoot. Ned has some pretty good points, and Peter doesn’t have any more excuses. “Alright, fine. Go wait by the door, I’ll be out in a minute.” Ned nods and leaves Peter to change into his swim trunks. Peter sighs and pulls off his shirt. No one will be able to figure out his secret identity because he has abs, right?

Peter shakes his head and pulls on his swim trunks, staring at himself in the mirror with crossed arms. Even if no one notices how he looks, he’s never been in front of his classmates without a shirt. May really had made him wear shirts to swim parties when he was younger, and he kept doing it because he used to look like a gangly twig. What if his friends look at him weirdly? Peter turns away from the mirror and kicks his clothes onto his bag. He doesn’t really have a choice if he wants to go swimming with Liz. He takes a deep breath and opens the bathroom door.

Ned looks up from his phone and smiles at Peter. “He dude, ready to go?” He doesn’t stare, he doesn’t comment, and he doesn’t look weirded out. 

Peter smiles a small smile and nods. “Yeah, lets go.” 

Peter grabs a room key and stuffs it in his pocket as they head out into the hall. After looking both ways for Mr. Harrison, both boys let out a sigh of relief. It’s quieter out than Peter thought it would be. He’s not going to complain, though. 

Despite this, it’s still surprisingly hard to sneak down to the pool room. Ned almost trips three times and blows their cover, but Peter manages to pull him back every time. Ned, on the other hand, has to do some fast talking when Peter physically runs into a housekeeper. Somehow he doesn’t believe she actually thought they were looking for a bathroom, but she let them go anyways. When they do make it to the pool room, they’re the last ones to get there.

Peter pushes the door open for Ned, and follows in after him, grinning at the sound of hushed laughter and splashing. Almost everyone is in the main pool, but Michelle is sitting by herself in the hot tub. Ned rushes off to join a game of chicken developing in the pool, and Peter decides to go sit with Michelle. He’s not sure if she wants any company, but he never likes being alone during social events. Maybe she doesn’t either?

The floor is slippery and cold. Walking across it feels like stepping in a puddle of melted snow, but instead of one unpleasant spot, there are five hundred. Peter’s face scrunches with disgust, and when he finally makes it over to the hot tub, he practically throws himself in. The chlorine burns his nose, but the warmth feels nice after spending the day in a bus.

Michelle stares at him from the other side of the circular pool with a quirked brow. Peter smiles sheepishely at her and ducks further into the bubbling water. She continues to stare.

“Hey Michelle. How’s it going? Are you enjoying the secret pool party?” He asks, smiling in what he hopes is a friendly way and not extremely creepy.

It seems to be okay, because Michelle stops looking at him weirdly and offers a dry smile. “You’re asking if I like defying a nonsensical corporate curfew? Of course.” She raises her arms to gesture around the room. “This will probably be the highlight of the trip.”

Peter nods jerkily. “Oh, yeah. Of course, stupid capitalism.” He feels his face heating up and he turns to watch the other kids in the pool. It looks like they’re still playing chicken. Abraham is out, and standing on the sidelines, but Ned and Liz are dominating.

Peter smiles and leans on the edge of the hot tub. Liz looks so pretty. She has on a red swimsuit with blue straps. It’s totally almost Spider-Man themed. Well, not really, but Peter likes it anyways. Ned looks really happy to have her as his partner, and Liz is laughing while she shoves at Betty. 

Abraham glances over at Michelle and Peter and offers a grin. “Hey! You guys want to join? I think these two,” he gestures and Ned and Liz, “need to be taken down a notch.”

Peter looks over at Michelle, and she shrugs. They both climb out of the tub and walk over to the pool. Michelle decides to jump right in, but Peter stands awkwardly by the edge. He knows it’s going to be freezing. He reluctantly dips his foot in to test the water, but he catches Michelle staring at him again. He panics and leans forward, diving into the pool. 

He surfaces with a cough, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. He was right, it’s like the arctic in here. Flash looks over and laughs at him, but Ned shoves him so that he falls too. It makes Peter feel slightly better. 

He helps Michelle get onto his shoulders, and tries to look like he’s struggling to lift her. He’s not sure how heavy she is, but he’s fairly certain he shouldn't be able to lift her as easily as a textbook. They play a couple of rounds together, slaying Ned and Liz completely, before Liz whistles loudly. 

“Alright Guys!” She calls, smiling brightly. “We’ve got an early morning tomorrow, so we should probably head up to bed now. Don’t forget to set an alarm for breakfast, and if anyone needs help with some last minute reviews, I’ll be in the lobby around seven.”

There are a few groans and complaints, but everyone begins to get out and dry off. Peter stands and turns around to help Ned out. They walk over to the small shelf in the corner of the room and grab some towels. Ned starts trying to wring out his swim trunks, while Peter throws his towel over his head and rubs wildly in an attempt to dry his hair. When he takes it off his hair is sticking up in every direction. It looks like he's been zapped by an electrical socket or something.

Once they’re both sure that they’re dry enough to sneak back up to their room, Peter and Ned are the last ones in the room. 

“Hey man,” Ned says as they walk out to the hall, “Wasn’t that fun? You and Michelle were kicking butt in there! Though, Liz was an awesome partner. She’s great at pep talks.”

Peter smiles impishly and side-eyes his friend. “It’s a shame that you needed so many pep talks. Michelle and I were doing victory dances every round.”

“Oh my gosh Peter, you guys won like, four rounds. That’s not that many.” Ned laughs as he replies. 

Peter smiles and continues to brag until they make it back to their room. 


	6. Decathlon Part 2

Mr. Harrison’s “We’re running late for the decathlon, and I’m on my third cup of extremely caffeinated coffee” voice is way more effective than any alarm Peter’s used before. He feels his blood pressure spike as the man darts past their room again, peaking in the cracked door to make sure that they’re moving fast enough. Peter never thought he’d say this, but that guy needs to take a chill pill. 

He tugs the team’s yellow-printed polo over his head. Ned gives him a look from the other side of the room, where he’s trying to fix his hair with the gel his mom made him bring. Apparently, she insisted that he needed to look nice for any pictures taken at the event. Peter’s glad that May didn’t seem to think about team pictures, or else he’d be in the same situation. 

They quickly finish up getting ready, and then they dart out into the hall with their backpacks. Flash is already out there waiting, scrolling through instagram on his Stark phone, but Abraham is still frantically searching for one of his notebooks. He runs past Peter and Ned, pausing to shoot them a look.

“Mr. Harrison’s lost his mind,” he says, tugging nervously at his sleeves. “I can’t find my notes anywhere, and I’m like, ninety-nine percent sure that if I don’t have them in the next two minutes, he’s going to kill me.” Peter and Ned nod in agreement. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise them.

“Have you checked with Liz yet?” Peter asks. “She’s got dozens of notebooks with her. She might have picked up yours by mistake.” 

Abraham looks at Peter like he just single-handedly stopped climate change. “You’re a genius Parker! I’ll go check with her now.” He calls, starting to jog back down the hall. 

Ned laughs at the look on Peter’s face, and he elbows him lightly. They head down to the main lobby to wait for everyone else to finish getting ready. Flash comes down with them, but he doesn’t look up from his phone. Now that he’s not distracted by Abe, Peter thinks that Flash looks exhausted. His hair is hanging loose around his face, still un-styled, and he has dark circles under his eyes. He’s not being a sarcastic jerk, though, so Peter counts it as a small blessing.

After about ten more minutes of chatting with Ned, everyone is gathered up and ready to go. Peter’s pretty sure that Mr. Harrison is starting to go grey at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, but that’s cool. They’re all shuffled onto the bus again, and then they’re off.

* * *

The decathlon goes by faster than Peter thought it would. At the start, the team was split up into individuals for the written tests. Peter thinks he did good on most of them, but he feels the best about the Chemistry and Literature exams. Who knew that making up witty science and pop culture puns would be a good way to study both of these categories? 

The next segment of the competition was similar to a gameshow. The top three teams were brought into an auditorium where they would answer five rounds of questions based on various topics. Peter thought that Flash was just a little bit buzzer-jumpy, but they managed to answer almost all of the questions correctly. They won with a final score of twenty-five, while the other two teams came in at fifteen and six. 

Now, they’re stopping for lunch at McDonald’s, before they go to the Washington Monument. Peter smiles when he steps into the busy building and hops right into line. He didn’t get to eat much this morning, and his metabolism is literally trying to kill him. He’s glad that he snuck some of his savings on the trip. He’s going to buy at least three Big Macs. 

Ned comes up behind him, digging in his backpack for his Star Wars themed wallet. “Oh my gosh, I’m so glad that we stopped for food,” he says, glancing at Peter with the eyes of a man who’s been starving for at least two hours. “Those granola bars that we had for breakfast were ridiculous. I thought Mr. Harrison was going to make us wait until after the monument for snacks.”

Peter laughs and gestures towards their teacher, who’s currently pacing in front of the building with his cell pressed up against his ear. “I think that’s what he was going to do, but he felt like we deserved a reward for winning. He must be going crazy with how far off-schedule this is putting us.”

Ned looks over too, and he chuckles slightly. “Well, at least he’s not as bad as he was this morning.” He turns back to the menu and squints his eyes. “What are you going to get? I was thinking chicken nuggets, but the McRib looks kind of amazing.”

“Uhm-” Peter’s saved from answering when the person in front of him finishes ordering. He leaps forwards, and starts ordering quickly, ignoring the snide comment that Flash makes from somewhere back in the line. Hopefully, he can eat the first two burgers before Ned even gets to the table. 

He takes the receipt from the cashier and goes to fill up his soda-cup with as much Mountain Dew as possible. He’s figured out that drinks with higher sugar contents are the best for keeping up his energy when he can’t snack constantly. Also, he loves Mountain Dew, and he probably would have picked that anyways. 

He takes his drink to a large table by the windows, and he sets it down in front of a booth-seat. He doesn’t bother sitting. His order will be out in a minute anyway. Both Ned and Liz join him while he’s waiting, and Peter trashes his original “Hide spider-appetite from Ned plan”. 

He goes up to grab his order, and Ned’s, and he brings them back to the table. Ned grabs his, and he eyes Peter’s three burgers. “That’s such a mood, bro. I’m starving.” He says, before promptly digging into his own lunch. Peter feels slightly silly for being worried in the first place. Everyone at their table has at least two menu items, even Liz and Betty. Tournaments, academic ones included, make people hungry. 

Peter bites into his first burger, savoring the greasy goodness that fills his mouth, before gulping down half of his soda. He looks up to see that Mr. Harrison is still pacing outside, but he’s no longer on the phone. The poor man doesn’t look like he’s planning on coming inside for some food anytime soon. 

Peter bites his lip and grabs one of his orders of fries. He ignores Ned’s questioning look as he stands and heads outside. Mr. Harrison could use the fries more than Peter could. He’s pretty sure that McDonald’s cooks them in some sort of drug, or something, and that’s why they taste so good. Either way, they’ll give the guy a pick-me-up. 

He smiles when Mr. Harrison takes the offered snack with shaking hands, and goes back in to finish his own lunch, not noticing the look that Michelle shoots his way.

* * *

When they finally make it to the monument, they’re all buzzing with excitement. Winning the decathlon, having a pool party, and getting fast-food did wonders to lift everyone’s post-bus moods. Well, except for Michelle. Peter tries asking her if she’s going to come up to see the monument with them, but she says something about “not wanting to support something made by slaves”. That seems like a valid response, so he lets the topic drop.

They enter the building to find hoards of people milling about. The class follows their sour-looking tour guide to the security check-in, and Ned laughs a bit when Flash doesn’t want to send his phone through. Peter smiles too, but refrains from laughing. 

He’s not exactly okay with letting his phone go through either, and his is nowhere near as expensive as Flash’s. He broke his old one the first time he went out with his web formula, and if he breaks this one, May said he’s not going to get another. Flash probably has a hard time keeping his safe too, since he’s been out fighting with Iron Man.

Peter reluctantly drops his bag into the bin, and he lets the guard check him over with the metal detector wand-thing. The whole situation feels similar to checking in at the airport. He’s the last one to be looked over, so as soon as he’s done, they board the elevator to start the tour.

As the doors slide closed with a soft thump, Peter’s spidey-sense starts to hum quietly. His nerves vibrate with the feeling of rising danger, and Peter doesn’t know what’s wrong. His eyes scan the elevator, but there isn't anything that could be considered dangerous. Well, unless you count forcing Peter and Flash into an enclosed space together as dangerous. 

They’re rising through the monument quickly, and when they pass the half-way mark, he thinks that they might reach the top unscathed. Maybe his senses were off this time?

Flash’s backpack starts to glow, and Peter’s senses scream at him to get out of there. His eyes widen, and he starts to gesture at Flash frantically, trying not to disturb the droning lecture that the guide is reciting. The other teen doesn’t raise his head from his phone. 

Flash’s backpack is glowing brighter by the second, and it’s starting to turn purple. Peter reaches the point of panic beyond care, and he sticks an arm out to grab Flash’s shoulder, but it’s too late. His head almost splits in half with the sense of immediate danger. 

BANG! There’s an explosion. Peter really hates explosions. 

His classmates all scream. The elevator rattles dangerously, shaking to a stop as the bright flare of purple and green light recedes. Smoke fills the compartment, which looks to be falling apart. Bits and pieces of the walls are coated in glowing embers, and jagged metal twists out in places. 

His classmates are all panicking, shouting rings through Peter’s head in time with his still-screaming senses. He stumbles into Flash and grips his arm tightly to keep from falling. The other boy glares at him murderously, but doesn’t shake him off. He offers Peter a hand and steadies him. He then turns towards everyone else.

Liz is standing at the far end of the compartment, hugging herself tightly, while Betty is on the floor crying. Ned and Abraham seem to be fine, but Tyler and Suzan have minor burns on their backs, seeing as they were the closest to Flash. Flash himself, though he’s still seeming put-together, also has burns on his back. 

“Hey! Everybody calm down, and shut your mouths!” He shouts over the chaos, causing Peter’s headache to worsen. “We need to stop moving around just in case the elevator isn’t structurally stable.” Flash shakes Peter off, not angrily, but definitely not gently, and he turns toward the tour guide with a stern frown. “Are there safety measures put in place for an event like this?”

The woman nods and speaks up as well. “We are very safe, and everything is going to be fine. I’m going to contact someone on the top floor, and we’ll see what they can do. Right now, we just need to remain calm.”

She reaches for a radio on her belt and begins talking rapidly. Everyone else shifts restlessly in place. Ned stands stock still beside him, and Peter tries to give him a reassuring look, but it’s more like a grimace due to the thrumming in his head. He’s sure that they’re not out of danger yet, and he doesn’t know how to help. A feeling of extreme anxiety floods his veins and claws its way up his throat.

The tour guide stops her rapid fire discussion over the radio and addresses the group again. “Okay everyone, we’re only about six feet from the top. We’re going to open the hatch at the top of the compartment, and then we’ll climb out one at a time. They’ve propped open the doors on the top floor. All you’ll have to do is let them pull you up. Let’s go.”

She’s not tall enough to reach the hatch, so she instructs Flash on how to unlatch it. He gets it open easily enough, and turns back to face the group. He gets on his knees and gestures to the girl beside him. He boosts her up to the opening, but she’s having a hard time getting on top. Peter comes over, and he helps to lift her through. Once she’s been pulled to safety, he offers a hand to the next student.

Adrenaline helps them move quickly, and Peter’s instincts start to kick in. They finally get the rest of the students to safety, despite having a bit of trouble with Ned. In the end, it’s only Peter and Flash left in the compartment. They already forced the tour guide through, seeing as she’s shorter than both of them. Mr. Harrison wanted to stay, but Peter insisted that the rest of the class wouldn’t have an easier time if he had a heart attack before they managed to pull him through. 

It’s a good thing that no one gave them too much trouble, because Peter’s feeling of danger has only increased with every person they’ve sent up. He lets out a shaky breath and turns to Flash.

“Come on. I’ll give you a hand up.” He offers.

Flash gives him a calculating look and slowly shakes his head. “No way Penis. I may not like you very much, but I’m technically a hero in training. It’s my responsibility to make sure that civilians are safe first. That includes you.”

Funny, Peter’s thinking the same thing, but he notices the determined look in his classmate’s eyes and gives in. Flash is too stubborn for his own good, but he can handle himself. Peter will just have to pull Flash through once he’s up.

He nods slightly and steps up on Flash’s proffered hand. He easily pulls himself onto the top of the elevator, and he almost smiles. He turns and kneels to pull Flash up onto the roof too. He grips the other’s hand, and tugs him through just as easily. He probably should have tried to fake struggling, but his spidey-sense is starting to lose it again, and he doesn’t think wasting any time is wise. 

Flash sighs in relief as he stumbles to his feet. He goes to offer Peter a boost up to the open doors on the top floor, but Peter shakes his head. “Nope. It’s your turn to go first.” He ignores the scathing glare that passes over Flash’s face, and helps him reach the stretching arms of the volunteers. Then, Peter’s alone on top of the elevator. For a second, he feels immensely calm. Everyone is safe. 

Then, his senses go off like a gun, and the elevator falls.

Flash screams above him, and Peter briefly meets his dark, terrified gaze as he falls through the darkening shaft of the elevator. His heart jumps frantically in his chest, and blood beats on his ears. He tries desperately to calm down enough to find a way to stop his descent. This feeling isn't too different from when he’s web-slinging. Peter just has to find a way to stop without his suit.

He’s saved from that decision by slamming into the roof of the elevator below him. The air rushes from his lungs on impact, and he gasps violently. His bones ache, and Peter’s pretty sure he cracked a rib. It’ll be healed in less than three days, but man, that hurt. He coughs again, and sits up slowly. It looks like the original explosion did more damage than they thought. 

Peter’s about thirty feet lower than he was before, and the elevator is barely held in place by sheets of metal paneling that are peeling away from the shaft. The metal won’t hold for much longer, though, so Peter takes in a deep breath, and he starts shifting towards the walls. If he can just grab on to one of the maintenance ladders, he can start climbing to safety. 

The elevator creaks ominously as Peter moves, and he goes still. The people above him are screaming down at him, telling him that everything will be okay, and that help is coming. He knows that he doesn’t have that much time. His heartbeat steadies, and his eyes focus on the lowest bar on the wall across from him. 

Peter tenses his legs, and he flings himself forward with all the force he can. The elevator goes crashing through the shaft below him, but he’s clinging securely to the wall. The people above him sound even more frantic, and Peter can pick out the voices of his classmates in the chaos. 

He wasn’t able to grab a ladder rung, but he’s still in a good spot to wait for help. He subtly sticks his feet to the wall below him. He hopes that it looks like he found a foothold, and not like he’s suddenly taking on the powers of Spider-Man. 

Five minutes later, the staff have managed to pry open a hatch just above him, and they pull him up frantically. Peter sighs heavily, and lets them fuss over him, answering every question that they shoot at him. That was a close one. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think!


End file.
